The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1887-08-06
THE MISCHIEF OF PROVERBS.

The Errors of Belief and HeedIessness of
Conduct Engendered by IA MisappIica-
don OF Well Meant saws.
.]unius Henri Browne contributes the
following interesting topic to an Eastern
literary journal:
| Proverbs at best are seldom more than
partial truths, and at worst are often the
meanest of falsehoods. They are specious
generally, and their speciousness fire.
quently wells their sophistry and their
moral deformity.
1.-The world owes man living" is
one of the pleasantest fallacies by which
both lazy and unprinciplod fellows seek
to evade duty to them selves and respon-
sibility to others. The world may posi-
bly, owe man "a living when irreparable
adversely has overtaken him; when he
has failed after repeated trials, or when
he cannot get work. But 1t certainly
does not, if he folds his arms, or, through
wretched vanity misnamed pride, refrains
| from honest labor which he counts uu-
worthy. He in whose mouth the phrase
oftenest is, is very apt to be professional
| loafer or sponge, or, still worse, genteel
Swindle-a borrower of money without
expectation of its return. He affects to be
though he has rendered it no service; has
| given it absolutely nothing to base an OBJ
legation on. lie is usually a drone in the
bee hive of life; claimant of merit he
does not possess; a sycophant, a sham,
and bully combined.
Beware of the man who is voluble about
the debt this busy ball has incurred by
his birth. He is not to be trusted. His
| fondness for the proverb indicates his
antipathy to worh-and the enemy Of
work is the enemy of society-oi1ers just
| ground for suspicion; is an argument
againt his character. The few men WI.
are the worlds creditors will be very
sure to keep silent concerning the fact,
| if they recognize it; though the great
probability is that they will be too modest
to be conscious of their large deserving.
| There is a pride in merit that brides
| the tongue as well as humbes the judy
ment of its own performance. But the
| fellow who has the globe on the debit
side of his ledger can rarely balance his
accounts save by a liberal entry of immi-
tigable self-conceit
"All stratagems are fair in love and
wal" is one of the most atrocious sentl-
ments ever uttered. An ingenious devil
try lies in its wording; for it couples two
things that are entirely opposite. Love
is the antipode of war; not in its cSntra-
diction alone, but its extinction. Assent
to the latter part of the proverb might be
readily gained; but never to the former
from any mind of moral sanity. The cum
ming of the verbal Continuance is there
fore palpabla. The enormty of half the
phrase is concealed in the plausibility of
the other half.
them without adherence. The connec
ton is unnatural inhuman. Mephisto-
pheles turks i'll the suggestion. Love is
the one thing above aught else that should
be dealt with i'll strictest honesty; that
should be reverenced, worshipped, glori-
fed. To take any advantage of love
would be-if anything were-an unpar-
donable sin; for love is the queen of viz
tue, the angel part of our common human
ity. 1t Is so pure, so sweet, SO tender, so
generous, 50 noble, so contidiug, so spon-
taneous, that to wrong it by thought
much more to deceive it's wicked in
the extreme. And then to employ STRAIT
agem deliberately, and lik wise to Justify
it, is simply infamous. He would be
bold, indeed, who would have the cour-
age to father SO vile maxim The bA-